Swatch TTR Changes

The Swatch TTR board members met in New York City, USA on May 19^th through May 22^nd to devise some changes for the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour 2008-2009 to try and increase the progress snowboarding has been making. Given below are some of the notable changes that have been made.

In the Tour of 08-09 the last 6STR events will consist of two events to determine the Tour Champion. There will be Burton US Open for the men, and Roxy Chicken Jam for the women. Whoever wins the Tour Champion events will receive a 1000 Swatch TTR points. The 25% bonus will be removed.

The prize money will be distributed to all the winners after identifying their rankings at the end of the Burton US Open and the Roxy Chicken Jam. The Top 10 men of the Burton US Open and the Top 5 women of the Roxy Chicken Jam will receive prize money.

Swatch TTR ranking points received by the riders ranked on the final Swatch TTR ranking list at the end of the tour (April 30^th) will be carried over to the tour of the next season, which will instantly be taken as the first result of the new season’s ranking list. The average of eight results will determine a rider’s final ranking. If the rider carries his/her last season’s points, then the average of only seven results will be required to determine the rider’s final ranking.

The number of Swatch TTR points available at each STAR level has been changed to provide a clear distinction between the 1-2 Star, 3-4 Star and 5-6 Star, while still maintaining dignity in the different levels.

Swatch TTR (Swatch Ticket To Ride) was founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, and is a non-profit, rider-driven organization. They have the goal “to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility, innovation as guiding principles”. They are one of the most well-known snowboard organizations present today. And they have all unanimously agreed on the above changes at the General Assembly held on May 22^nd, 2008.

Let us hope these changes bring the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour of 2008-2009 even more success.

Julia & Mark Marino

Julia and Mark Marino, a set of siblings from Winchester, have been establishing themselves nationally in snowboarding and freestyle skiing. The duo combined and won four medals just last month at the USA Snowboard Association national championships held in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Out of the four medals they bagged, two were silver and two were bronze.

Julia Marino, an avid soccer and lacrosse player as well, is a 16-year-old sophomore currently attending Arlington Catholic High School. Out of the four medals the duo won, Julia won three of them- one silver each in slope style and half-pipe, and a bronze in skier cross.

Though Julia has been maintaining consistency in her wins since 2006, she seemed pretty disappointed with her performance during the national championships. She said, “I had won gold in all 14 qualifying events leading up to nationals, so I really expected to sweep. I fell on my chest the day before in a practice round and hurt my sternum. With the altitude change and all, it was really painful. I guess, though, when you take the injury into consideration, my overall finish was satisfying, because after I hurt myself, I really wasn’t even sure if I could compete.” However, after her three-medal win, she was awarded with the title of outstanding performer by the USA Snowboard Association.

Mark Marino is just a year younger than his sister and is a freshman at Arlington Catholic High School. He bagged a bronze in skier cross after earning a berth in the final run by winning two heats against over 80 skiers! Mark said, “I was really nervous because this was my first national, but once I started, I was OK. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of people from all over the country. Winning a medal in my first try was very exciting.” Apart from skiing, Mark enjoys playing football, and like his sister, lacrosse.

The Marino siblings have been skiing ever since the tender age of five, and hope to win many more medals in the future.

West Coast Invitational

For the seventh year in a row, West Coast Invitational (WCI) returned to Mammoth Mountain on May 2^nd and May 3^rd. WCI is an award winning group consisting of all the former Olympians and promising up-coming snowboarders.

The riders of WCI competed in the Vans Fiesta de la Pipa and the Village Rail Jam for a prize purse of $20,000 USD. There were also special performances by My-G and Talib Kweli, ensuring non-stop entertainment for the crowds. They wanted to make sure the weekend would be similar to a spring party with Mammoth Mountain only ready for the best!

WCI generally has a line-up of high-profile riders. The one’s that took part in the event last week were Danny Kass, Mason Aguirre, JJ Thomas and Chaz Guldemond. 30 other riders tore up the slopes on Mammoth Mountain as well. Last year’s Rail Jam champ, Jonas Michilot, was among them.

Prior to the events on May 2^nd and May 3^rd, Oren Tanzer, Director of Youth Action Sports and originator of pipe-rail-music hybrid WCI, said, “I’m super excited about the all-star lineup both on the hill and off the hill. With well-known riders competing against some of the most talented up-and-comers, this year’s event is going to be amazing.”

During the May 2^nd session, Chaz Guldemond etched out a win over Mason Aguirre in the rider judged pipe session. He walked away with a $5,000 share of the WCI prize purse. The other winners during the May 2^nd events were Luke Wynen for a pipe-side piñata, Luke Matrani who performed the best trick with a switch double Micalchuk and Jamie Anderson for her outstanding performances. They walked away with $500, $1,500 and $2000 respectively.

Mammoth Mountain has been rated one of the four-season mountain resorts in California. With such adulation and frequent visitors, we can expect to see this mountain hosting many more such mammoth events in the future.

John Nicoletta - Tragic Death

On Friday, April 11, 2008 Colorado extreme skier John Nicoletta died in a jump- off-rock-wall during the Subaru Freeskiing World Championships at the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood. Nicoletta lost control while attempting to ski off a band of rock known as the “Headwall”, leading to his death at the tender age of 27. The assistant emergency medical services chief of the Girdwood Fire Department, Terry Kadel, described Nicoletta tumbling down head over heels down the side of a mountain which measures up to 3000 feet above the valley ground.

Kadel had seen Nicoletta cart wheeling towards his death during a live broadcast in a restaurant where he was picking up food. Even though the fire station was called upon immediately, they were unable to help, as Nicoletta had stopped breathing and was in cardiac arrest. A helicopter ambulance, which had been called upon at the same time, was unable to attend to Nicoletta as they were busy carrying a different patient to another destination. The impact of the fall was so severe that he died as soon as he hit solid ground, with his helmet instantly falling off.

Alaska state trooper, Sergeant Bryan Barlow said the cause of Nicoletta’s death has been finalized as “massive blunt force trauma to the chest”. Commonly described as an “ex-Eastcoaster”, Nicoletta was one among 70 men and 26 women who qualified for the extreme competition at Alyeska, fighting for the cash prize of $12,500. Nicoletta had finished second at the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open just two months ago, and had featured in various ski videos as well. After Nicoletta’s fall on Friday, the competition had been halted. But after discussions with various competitors, the competition has been resumed once again.

Girdwood fire Chief Bill Chadwick, did however admit that with increasing new areas being opened up at Alyeska for the ski competition, the risk factor increases as well.